← Great Company with Jamie Laing
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A
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D
Hello, everyone. I'm Jamie Lang and this is Great moments. Well, hey guys. Welcome back. I hope you're well. Now, today's great moment is with the larger than life Louis Spencer. Louis is amazing. Louis instantly lit up the room when he came into the great company set. He's just one of those people you. You basically can't help but smile around. In this great moment, we talked about his natural ability for dance and how he's used it to connect with people both on stage and in everyday life. For Louis, dance has always been about so much more than being on stage. It's given him community. Okay, so if you like this great moment, you'd love the full episode with Louis. You can find it in the show notes. You just got to go and click on it. And there's loads more episodes as well. So here it is. There's great moments with Louis. Spence, you went to this dance school. How good were you? Honestly? Does it separate yourself from your own? How good were you?
- [03:56]
E
I think I had a natural ability, so I was lucky. I didn't have to fight for dance. I was never a triple threat, as in singer. My singing was awful. I mean, I suppose I could act a bit, but the dancing, it was a natural ability, you know, I was.
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D
You could just feel it. You could just feel it.
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E
I could just do it. Nothing was a struggle for me. My body, I had to feel. I could do splits, I could do back flips. I didn't have to push myself. So I had a natural, a natural talent in that.
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D
Did you love it?
- [04:21]
E
I loved it. But it needed to be nurtured. And, you know, at stage school, I must say, at stage school, I didn't really learn a lot more than what I did. I think I was kept back a bit because some people weren't as advanced as me, naturally. But I learned how to be, you know, a fabulous gay and tap dance, you know, honestly. And like I say, you Know, I met some incredible people. The environment was full of young, like from 12 to 16 year olds in the lower school who were just like. It was like fame. It was like what you see on tv.
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D
This is Italian context.
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E
People would sing and dance and people were camp and funny and you just. I just learned so much about life and being with like, you know, you had the me who was there, you know, my parents scraping every penny. Then you'd have people like yourself or not you actually, because you'd never have got in, but you'd have like three members from one family and their parents were paying for that. Who. They would stay in their dad's flat when we're at the Barbican in Barbican, because their dad had a flat, you know, so there's a real mix of people.
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D
Did you feel, especially back then, was the sense of opportunity so exciting? Yeah, yeah. Like it was everything to play for.
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C
Yeah, yeah.
- [05:30]
E
Because they had an agency at the school as well. So then you'd do, you know, there'd be a notice come up on the board of who was going to do Grange Hill, which was a show.
- [05:36]
D
Yeah, yeah.
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E
Like as an extra and then like as in Bugsy Malone in the West End, you know, because that was your first, like in the West End. Yeah. So you know about who's going to audition and then when you get the job and, you know, so you go and see on the ball there's an audition coming up for. I suppose now it'd be like, you know, if the kids were there for the Harry Potter films or whatever, you know, there'd be the audition. So they go to all them schools first. So it was fantastic. It was absolutely incredible, you know.
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D
Was there a part of you? Because I think a lot of. I remember acting and wanting to go into acting and being on stage and being in front of audience because I think I definitely felt a sense of. A real sense, like we all do, of insecurity. And I thought being in front of people.
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E
Yeah.
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D
Being on stage where you had loved would cure a lot of things I had that was giving me some validation. Do you have any of that or you just actually just love performing?
- [06:20]
E
No, I just love performing. I mean, there's nothing like. I mean, I love performing because when I danced, like I say when I did something, I did feel like sometimes, like when you do things like. I call it a turn for now, like a pirouette, it's when you turn on one foot or something or you jump in the air, you know, or you do like I used to do lots of flips, like somersault. And there's a moment where you feel suspended, like when you're doing somersault in the air and. And you feel amazing. You can literally feel yourself going through there and you can see the ground and you know that you are looking amazing. I knew I was fucking great at tumbling, you know, and you just knew. And that feeling that you knew you were incredibly better than anyone else at that point. And the whole room is looking at you and they're all your, like, peers, all other people, but you're that little bit better than them at that. Do you know what I mean? There was no better feeling than that. There was something there and it wasn't about the. The applause from the audience that came after. With becoming a public figure and knowing that I could, like when I like you say, I can't help myself when I come in here. They put me in a room downstairs, which was lovely, I must say. Lovely little room, nice decoration. Same as wherever else. Not enough sweets in there. Actually, I didn't see any sweets in there, so I thought, I'm not sitting in here. So I went straight upstairs, went straight into the room with the girls, had a chat with the girls and the dog found out one of the girls went to the same school as me. And then, you know, I went in and see, the marketing team asked. My Sals was going, sal's are good. I said, well, that's good. And then I got to eat the new peanuts, you know, which are new, the chocolate peanut ones. And I said, my husband get me some of them from Tesco's. But actually they're nowhere near as good. And I'm not just saying that because the Tesco ones, the chocolate's not very healthy, it's not very nice chocolate and it doesn't have the crunch anyway. So I just went and introduced myself. Then I went up to the top office where you've got your accounts or whatever. And then, you know, we. There's a little boardroom at the end.
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D
And you've always been like this.
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E
Yeah. Oh, I can't help myself.
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D
But what is the. What is the difference between going to.
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E
I love people. I love people. I love. I love just like everyday people. And I feel as though I can. I know I have the ability to walk into a room, you can.
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D
And light it up.
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E
You could have, like I say, the straightest, maybe homophobic in a sense person. And I know I could make them smile or I could do something, or I know that I could make that room laugh. And I do it in a way sometimes with shock factor, but I'd never do it in a way where I'm being insulting someone or if I thought I would never pick on someone to make them feel uncomfortable to get a laugh for myself.
- [08:45]
D
No, you would never, you would never
- [08:47]
E
self deport yourself, you know, I mean, but I like that. And then I see they smile and they laugh and yeah, that gives me joy.
- [08:53]
D
But what was it like going to, you know, going to your school, performing there, but then going back to Essex? Was it completely two different lives or not really?
- [09:01]
E
Yeah, well, you know, that's the thing. I didn't really used to go back.
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D
Did you not?
- [09:04]
E
No, I was the age of 12 once. I was in London, that was it. And even for one of my sister's weddings, I say one of them because it wasn't the first one. And I didn't even bother going back. I was like, I was living this. I love them. Of course, like I say, one of my sisters lives with me as well now. Do you know what I mean? She's in the annex, darling, that I had to build, you know, so we're a very close family. But at that time, did you lose
- [09:27]
D
yourself in that sort of.
- [09:28]
E
Oh, absolutely. And I'd always ring home every night and say, hello, mom, yeah, what's going on? Yeah, right, I love you, bye. But things like weddings, I thought wasn't exciting. I don't give a shit about. I don't want to go and go to fucking wedding. And you know, it's like I couldn't, I couldn't be bothered. Which sounds, sounds wrong because. But you know, by that time I think my sister's had two kids each. Anyway, they were getting married, they'd already done the deal.
- [09:48]
D
What was the excitement? Where was the, where was the drive? What were you, what were you seeking? What you after? What did you. What was more fun? Was it the party, the connection, the. The roles? What was it?
- [09:58]
E
No, I mean, what, staying like not going home?
- [10:00]
D
Yeah, not going home and being there.
- [10:02]
E
I was just, like I say I was just. I had my friends, we had our flat and we had our, Our world.
- [10:09]
D
And you didn't want to leave it?
- [10:10]
E
Yeah, we would do like, you know, go and do dance class in the morning and the afternoon, go back, shower, pick up a free fly from a gay bar. So on Monday night we'd go down to, I think it was bang. Which used to be a story around Tottenham Court Road. Tuesday night we'd go to Daisy Chain, which Was in Brixton. Never paid to get in because you already get the flyer thing.
- [10:32]
D
Yeah.
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E
Wednesday night we'd go to Pyramid at Heaven. Thursday night we'd go to Bang for. Friday night we would go somewhere else. Saturday night, Heaven again, you know, so it was like our world was taken up. We're doing class and like I say, I was in that circle of, like, this community of people where, like, you know, just. It was constant laughter and fun and
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D
you just felt there, you felt at home, you felt like your families. You didn't want to leave that.
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E
It was too empty when you left it.
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D
When Pineapple Studio started and it blew up like that. Did you expect it to blow up?
- [11:08]
E
No, absolutely not. We had a few, you know, we had lots of people come in and talk about, oh, fuck off, you know, because we're far too busy having our fabulous own time. We didn't want people.
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D
You had a few people coming in saying, oh, yeah, yeah.
- [11:17]
E
Lots of different people. You know, it's a really interesting place. We have people like, you know, Madonna was in there, Beyonce, you know, Spice Girl. All these people come and rehearse all. The West End show did a great hub of, you couldn't go wrong. Anyway, but this guy comes in and I see him, like I'm standing at the reception, obviously pretending that I'm artistic director, doing nothing, you know, because that's what I did, really. I just moved around and did nothing. Just spoke to everyone, just, you know, made people smile, made sure that the people that come in, that they felt welcome and all that. Anyway, this guy pulls up, salt and pepper in the hair. I thought, hello. And. And he gets off this bike. But I was a bit worried about. It's one of those, you know, little foldy ones.
- [11:50]
D
Yeah, yeah.
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E
I was like, girl. No, she's like, that's too much. Anyway, so then he comes in and like I said, he had a ass. Like two hard, hot boiled eggs and a handkerchief. I was like, hello. I said, laura, yeah, he wants to come and talk about. So we've got him in the office and Wid was supposed to sit in there looking at him like that. And I'm just like, you know, looking. And he had these beautiful blue eyes and. And he was really quite quirky and funny and he said about wanting to do this observational documentary. And I was like, well, I'm the one you need to speak to because, yeah, I'm. I'm the artistic director. Gave himself that title. I was never given that title. I gave myself it. And anyway, and Then I sorted out with the owner, Debbie Moore, obe, should be dame, but she's not quite yet, but she should be. And so I spoke to her and anyway, we only got him in because we thought he was quite cute and that's the only reason we did it. Did we think it's going to be hit? No, it was on sky. I was like, well, who has fucking sky if it ain't on one to five? Then there was an all terrestrial who's going to watch it? So I thought, you know, like I said, we weren't being paid, didn't give a shit, you know, really didn't had.
- [12:48]
D
No, no, I did nothing.
- [12:51]
E
No. And like I say, everything we did on there was totally real. We had a cameraman with each one of us. There was no storylines given to us, there was no can you do.
- [12:59]
D
You were just having fun.
- [13:01]
E
We were doing. The place was a hive of theatrical activity. There was dancers, there were singers, there was gays, there was straights, there was bi, there was triads, there was trans, there was fucking all darling. Do you know what I mean? Literally everything was in that building and everyone was just free there. So you put a camera in there and someone just guiding it, you're gonna get a great show. The things we did do was like the choreograph, the little dance routines.
- [13:24]
D
Yeah, they were amazing.
- [13:25]
E
But apart from that. No, that was it. No. Did we think it's gonna be a hit? Absolutely not. Your life is saying.
- [13:31]
D
Because also you doing that. You were doing western shows, you toured with the Spice Girls.
- [13:36]
E
Yeah, that was incredible.
- [13:37]
D
What was toy with the Spice Girls?
- [13:40]
E
It was the most incredible job because we went around the whole of North America, the whole of Europe with as dancers. Dancers didn't get to do that kind of job because we always had the American artists like, you know, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Michael Jackson, those brought dance sober. We never had an act going. Dancers that broke America. I mean the Beatles maybe broke America years ago, but before, after that, there's never been somewhere what would take a group of dancers. It was always the American artists coming here. We were treated like royalty. The girls were amazing to us. Five star hotels, the gays slipped in the private jets a couple of times. Only the gays though, just amazing. Literally, they, they. It was wonderful. It was, it was, they changed and
- [14:20]
D
this was like the peak.
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E
Yeah, yeah, it was like, you know, it was the peak of their fame and we would like performing in front of like, you know, 90,000 people, you know, did Madison Square Gardens, literally. We went, we went everywhere and they were. They were a joy to work with. They really were. And like I say, you've never. I know the Spice has only lasted for a short period, but the amount of stuff they did in that period would last some people a lifetime. I swear to God. Those girls didn't have time to fart.
- [14:47]
D
Did they not?
- [14:48]
E
They were constantly doing an interview. If having their makeup done during a radio interview, doing a voiceover for this. They would fly from Paris to Norway after a show to do an interview. You there, fly back that night, the next morning before the show, fly there. That you've never. Honestly, I'm surprised any of them are sane. They. They, you know, they deserve everything they got. They worked incredibly, incredibly hard, and they were amazing to work for.
- [15:14]
D
Is it as glamorous as you think, or is it not as glamorous when you pull back the curtain?
- [15:17]
E
No, of course it's not as glamorous. Because, I mean, you know, I think. I'm sure that if you spoke to any of those girls, they. They wouldn't have had any. Anytime while they were doing that to enjoy anything, because they didn't have any time. So I'm sure that, you know, there's lots of glamour come for them after. For us, it was glamorous, you know, meeting Madonna and Prince and Michael Jackson, and that was glamorous for us. But we were just the dancers mincing through. We didn't have to then, you know, do all this work and do everything they had to do.
- [15:48]
D
Why did you stop being a professional dancer?
- [15:49]
E
Because I got to. After Spice Girls. The last job I did was magical Mr. Mistoffeles in Cats, which I was. I think I was 28 when I finished. Missed that. I'd done my first, like, Western show when I was 12.
- [16:00]
D
Yeah.
- [16:01]
E
And I just thought you were tired. I was just thought, I don't want to be one of them old hoofers trying to stay behind. Now the pop groups were coming up after the Spice Girls. If I was doing commercial, they were going to be, like, 17, 18. I didn't want. I'd done it. I'd done West End, I'd done commercial, lots of commercial stuff. And I just didn't. I just. I lost. I love to dance, but I lost the passion. I didn't want to be that old person trying to hang on. I get it. And like I said, I went to work at Pineapple in a place which I loved. I loved being surrounded by all the people I loved dancers, actors, singers. I was in the hub of. So I was in a place that I was still very comfortable and very happy and there was always something going on. So it was perfect. And like I say, then pineapple dance, Judas and the rest is history.
- [17:08]
C
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D
Par le tu francais?
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E
Hablas espanol par l'?
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D
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